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Urban scholars have paid little or no attention to ramifications of the way the U.S. Senate is structured. Because of the Connecticut Compromise, the 26 smallest states with less than 18% of the U.S. population have an institutional lock on, and a potential veto over, basic public policies and all legislation going through Congress. Because small states are generally less urban, the Senate heavily underrepresents central cities and ethnic minorities and massively overrepresents suburban and rural/small-town residents, as well as the inhabitants of Mountain, New England, and West North Central regions. Moreover, federal grants unduly support not only small, less urban states but also tax-rich states.

IN RECENT YEARS a great deal of attention has been given to the subject of intergovernmental relations, but little has been done to document the changing role of the state vis-a-vis local government and the centralization of the state/local service and policy complex. It is impossible to analyze effectively the current condition of local government and the problems associated with it and at the same time neglect detailed consideration of the roles played by state and national agencies and programs. There has been considerable verbalization about the increasingly influential role of the national government in state and local affairs-verbalization that has presum